The Jewish Cowboy Rodeo

This past Friday, Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman happened to stop by the North Texas campus for a relatively brief speech and public appearance. It was quite a surprise to me to hear about this so suddenly a few days beforehand, without any formal announcement. But, I am not without my resources, so after quickly confirming the appearance, I made plans with a David, a friend also interested in hearing Kinky speak, to be sure and get to the Lyceum theatre early for good seats.

Now, Kinky Friedman, as an indepedent candidate, is oddball enough, but his public image of a cigar chompin', Stetson-wearin', guitar pluckin' Jewish cowboy who produces music and mystery novels elevates him quite a great deal in the public eye. On top of that, he's had a great deal of blunt and satirical comments on campaign issues and social happenings (his stance on gay marriage: "I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us"). Needless to say, for a state that has as many problems as we do (poor education, illegal immigration that benefits few, lack of funding for social services despite budget surpluses), it's refreshing and enticing to see a public figure who is unapologetic about his controversial stances but redeemably humorous and rather insightful.

So, me and David arrive outside the Lyceum theatre in the University Union. It's about an hour before the scheduled start, and there's already about 50-some-odd people waiting around an area about the size of a McDonald's counter ordering area. There are two tables linked side-by-side: one for purchasing Kinky Friedman merchandise for between two and twenty dollars (all of which goes towards his campaign) and another for registering to vote. I ask David jokingly if he's registered. "Ah, no I haven't." *pause* "Seriously?" "Dude, I just turned 18 this past summer." "Well, get the hell over to that table and register. We've got an hour." After getting David signed up and grabbing our propagandic swag, the doors were opened and we grabbed some premium seats for best view of the stage and to be near the mikes for Q&A time (which was actually the bulk of the appearance).

The theatre was filled to capacity, mostly with the twenty-something supporters Kinky has become known for, but also private detractors and opposition from the Democratic students on campus. Still, the “Kinkster” received a standing ovation after his announcement by Little Jewford (aka Jeff Shelby), which immediately segued into an Abbot-Costello “Thank you” “You’re welcome” routine by Kinky and Jewford. Before beginning his speech, Kinky wished to tell us about a dream he’d had recently. Rick Perry had gone to heaven. That wasn’t even the beginning of the joke, but the audience was happy enough to applaud. The overall structure and punch line was the same as anti-Bush and anti-Republican jokes I’ve heard: “Yesterday we were campaigning,” the Devil said. “Today, you voted.”

Kinky then launched into his brief speech outlining the issues he was focused on, capping each with a concise but humorous quip. This was how Kinky was reaching people: firing off easily digestible summaries of how he felt about things on an emotional level. I’ve heard it commented that Kinky’s style of rhetoric is akin to a preacher, and I have to agree. His speeches are deeply rooted in emotional as well as intellectual grabs and he mixes everything with physical mannerisms that elicit excitement and interaction with his audiences. He may be deeply opposed to being called a politician, but Kinky Friedman communicates and orates like a professional.

The Q&A session was fairly interesting, mostly because of Kinky defending himself against allegations of being racist simply because he used the word “negro” in an interview (“I helped found a group in UT that successfully picketed to integrate restaurants and worked for the Peace Corps at 11 cents an hour in Borneo with all kinds of people from all over. That kinda resume doesn’t seem to jive with a racist”) and a student who tried to bring up a quote from 1980 (nearly 30 years ago, folks) who was quickly booed down by the entire room.

By and large, Kinky answered what questions he had opinions and stances on, and admitted he had not come to a decision on others and would not give a pat, “covering all the bases” answer. I’d have to say he really said what people interested in him wanted to hear, with firm stances on reforming education funding and management, as well as being strict in handling crime and illegal immigration (to make sure that no laborers are exploited without pay, as well as preserving the traditional methods of immigration). I asked David after a particularly thunderous audience reaction, “Are you fired up about politics now?” His eyes were quite wide as he gave me a sharp nod.

If anyone wants to know what good such a radical as Kinky Friedman is bringing to this election, I’ll tell you: he’s getting more people involved in the voting process, as well as enticing many younger residents to become active in politics.

“If you’re old enough to fight in Iraq, you’re old enough to help us fix our government.”

Damn right, Mr. Governor. Damn right.